Transportation Insider: Private donors paid for party on Long Street bridge

Monday

Jul 21, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 21, 2014 at 11:18 AM

Nobody can say that the city doesn't know how to throw a party.

Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Nobody can say that the city doesn’t know how to throw a party.

When state and local officials decided to host a block party to celebrate the opening of the Long Street bridge over I-71 — which includes a new cultural wall designed by local artists — the city drew the planning straw.

And it racked up a $22,415 bill.

No taxpayer money was used to pay for the party that drew 1,600 reservations. (Mayor Michael B. Coleman said the actual attendance was twice that.) Private donors footed the bill.

Kokosing Construction and CH2M Hill, which both worked on the I-71/670 reconstruction, each contributed $10,000 for the event. PNC Bank donated $2,500, and Parsons, an engineering firm, chipped in $400.

The money is funneled through a nonprofit organization that helps pay for city events, including Coleman’s annual State of the City speech.

The party included a large stage with a disc jockey on the east side of the bridge, food vendors and space for dignitaries to sit and watch the event. Other attendees brought their own fold-up chairs or stood on the outskirts of the seating area.

• • •

City officials want to find out how many people are taking advantage of the bike upgrades that have cost millions of dollars over the past several years.

Columbus is updating its bike plan and it has hired a consultant that will count bikes at 30 sites across the city.

Portland, Ore.-based Alta Planning and Design will be paid about $91,000 to assist with the bike plans. It will count bicycles all over Columbus, including Downtown on High, Gay and Park streets.

Another Alta division runs the CoGo Bike Share in Columbus.

“For safety purposes, to be able to know how many bicycles you have on a street helps us to make better sense of bike-crash data we have,” said Daniel Moorhead, a city bike planner.

The information also will help the city evaluate how its infrastructure upgrades are being used, he said.

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission conducts counts by stationing volunteers at intersections. The city’s counts will be done using stationary equipment — including specialized pneumatic tubes and inductive loops that can detect bicycles — that can be left in one spot for an extended period.

In some places, the city might count bikes for an entire year, Moorhead said. Shorter counts should be available in October.

• • •

Grandview Heights residents recently learned that the No. 19 bus route might be on the chopping block. They didn’t take up torches and pitchforks, but some locals are registering their strong disapproval with the Central Ohio Transit Authority.

The bus runs through the heart of Grandview along 1st Avenue, south on Northwest Boulevard and east on Goodale Boulevard. The trouble is, not enough people ride the No. 19, COTA says. Ridership averages 56 over six round-trip runs in the morning and 55 over seven in the afternoon.

No. 19 is part of a system-wide review, and there is a proposed replacement, Stutz said. The No. 3 that currently heads south on Northwest and east on 3rd Avenue could instead continue south then east on Goodale to Downtown.

That takes care of only the eastern side of town, said Councilman Chris Smith, the city’s COTA liaison.

City and COTA officials plan to meet this week. Proposed route changes go to the COTA board in September.